Pulmonary embolism identified prior to anesthesia induction in a low-risk patient

Abstract

Introduction: Early detection and treatment of pulmonary embolism (PE) are critical for reducing morbidity and mortality of patients. However, diagnosis can be difficult if the symptoms are not clear. Case Report: A 21-year-old male patient visited the emergency room with multiple fractures, including femur fractures. Three days later, the planned operation was scheduled. On the day of surgery, the operation was canceled due to clinical diagnosis of PE because oxygen saturation on the pulse oximeter was 71–76% without dyspnea. Later, he was diagnosed with PE of the right lower lobe based on computed tomography (CT) pulmonary angiography, and surgery was performed without complications after low-molecular weight heparin treatment. Conclusion: Even if a patient is low risk and does not have symptoms suspicious of PE, careful preoperative patient monitoring and preoperative anesthetic evaluation are important for identifying additional patient risks.